The Jersey Devil

[tajana]

The scent of the wild, hauntingly beautiful Pine Barrens of New Jersey! Pitch pine with blackberry leaf, cranberry, cedar wood and tomato leaf.

The pine pitch is a wonderful note... the pine is dark and green and lovely without being terribly aggressive. The cranberry and perhaps the blackberry as well pop out immediately on the skin along with the pine, and it's a very sweet, uplifting combination. The tomato leaf and cedar arrive as it starts to dry down... the tomato leaf note isn't that high in the mix, but it is really distinctive... it adds some summertime warmth. I love cedar, so I really appreciate its presence here, and love that as time passes, the cedar becomes the heart of the scent. After an hour or so, it's mostly cedar, brushed with a bit of pine and sweetened up with berries. Even later on, it's faded mostly to an indistinct sweet scent, mostly squished, juicy berries with an undercurrent of wood.

It's a cousin to a favorite of mine, Nocnitsa. Both have evergreen and berry notes. But whereas that blend is chilly, this one has a warmer feel. This one is a great bet for somebody who likes pine as a supporting note rather than a central element. I've grown more and more fond of The Jersey Devil with each wear. At first I thought an imp would suffice, but the other day I took a nap and when I woke up I felt wrapped up in this gorgeous outdoors scent, sunlit cedar and cranberries. It was dreamy. My boyfriend likes it too, he says it smells spicy but sweet. I see a bottle in my future. Edited September 17, 2009 by Shollin

[TheIceMaiden]

I love cranberry and I'm always thrilled to see it used in a scent. Additionally, The Jersey Devil is one of my favourite cryptids, so I was excited to try this. Cedar can be tricky on me, and sure enough, Jersey Devil starts off with a strong blast of cedar. But it burns off within five minutes to reveal a gorgeous blend of cranberry, tomato leaf, and just a little pine. This also has decent throw and longevity. I like this, its fresh and outdoors-y, and except for the cedar intro, much less spooky than its namesake.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Not what I expected at all. Sweeter than expected, smell the dry tomatoe leaf, definitely and the tart cranberry.

 

Wet: Oh, no. Smells like B.O. It has some floral note, or fruit note that does not work well with my skin. It's smells similar to 'Egle'. I might have to wash this off.

 

Dry: Oooh...Unlike 'Egle' the bo scent fades on my skin and it turns very dry and woody. Like a pine cone, or a pine box. There's still something sweet underlying the dry wood, but it's faint.

 

Overall: I don't like it wet, but I could wear this dry. I might even be willing to wait for it to dry just to get to the drydown. I'll wear this in winter. Smells like a forest without snow. Like it.

[HamletsKeeper]

Bottlesniff - Bracken forrest with a hint of fruit.

 

Wet on skin Astringent notes immediately leap to the fore and mix with berries to create a dried-leaf BO kind of scent. Then it goes astringent, astringent, astringent. Great for clearing the sinus' but not something I want to waft.

 

DrydownGoes very menthol on my skin.

 

Overall Evidently astringent greens are not for me. They never soften and just amp like a tub of Vicks.

[animalcule]

I loved this from the minute I smelled it in the bottle. On me it starts of mostly juicy pine and sweet berry - it smells almost edible to me. Over time the cedar comes out and the pine fades a bit, so it smells like a sweet forest. I haven't gotten any tomato leaf yet, but the imp is only a month old. Will be purchasing a bottle. It's definitely a good Christmas scent, I think I will wear it for Christmas morning.

[jamethiel]

In the imp: Pine and cedar. NIIIICE

 

Wet: ARGH: Whut? I don't--what just happened? It smells of cranberry and ... basil? Tomato leaf? Something herbal. NOT A FAN of the wet scent.

 

In 5 minutes: Pine! mmmmm. Pinus radiata. I like it!

 

In ten minutes: Cranberry along with the pine. I don't specifically object to the scent, but I'm not sure they go together. Eh

in 30 minutes: more and more cranberry

 

In an hour: Less and less pine. Not my thing.

 

One for the swap pile.

[Invidiana]

I'm from New Jersey, and I've been hearing this legend all my life. I was a little bit worried about the tomato leaf, but it doesn't show up on me at all. What I get is dark, juicy reddish-purplish berries with a pine forest background. It's positively gorgeous and very much a "holiday" scent too, and I'm a huge sucker for holiday scents. Lucky I have many imps of this, and definitely getting a bottle after they're finished!

Edited December 3, 2009 by Invidiana

[PeshaRocha]

I got this as a frimp, and I am soooooo glad I did. I would never have bought this myself, as I'm not crazy about pine. In fact, if I'd read the description, I probably wouldn't have even opened the imp! But...

 

In the bottle -- sweet yumminess (must be the cranberry) backed by sharp freshness

 

Wet -- no sweetness but tart, sharp refreshing

 

Drydown -- some sweetness returns, actually detect a tiny bit of tomato leaf (never thought I'd smell that in a perfume) and finally realize there's pine in there! But I love it! The combination of these scents is perfect--the sharp pine, the dusty tomato, the sweetish cranberry--tangy, mellow, refreshing. Definitely greater than the sum of the parts!

[FathomBelow]

I got this freebie as part of my Christmas shipment and just got around to testing it now because the stopper is fiendishly hard to remove...

 

Anyways, in the imp, the strongest scent is the tomato leaf. It brought me right back to watering my mother's tomato plants on hot summer days. In the background is some vaguely sweet, pine-ish scent.

 

On my skin, the tomato leaf disappears, which is not unwelcome because although it's interesting, I don't know if I want to smell like tomato leaves. In its place is that sweet pine scent. The cranberry is much less tart than I expect and must be what is giving this scent its sweetness. I can't really smell the cedar wood distinctly (at least, I don't recognize anything that this shares with Ochosi) and I can't smell the blackberry leaf at all...it just smells like pine.

 

Overall, this perfume smells EXACTLY like holiday candles and wreaths, but without the spiciness of cinnamon or clove. It's a nice scent, but I don't expect to be using it much as I don't often want to smell like Christmas!

[DeltaCat]

Lots of cedar. Not a super strong cedar though. Hiding behind the cedar is a cranberry and a pine smell. This smells like Christmas Potpourri (spelling?). Great Holiday scent. I wish the tomato leaf came out more though.

[aquazoo]

Flowers bloom among the pine barrens. I get the hint of cranberry, too.

 

[josephinemarch]

 

 

After I saw the title and description, I was DYING to try this one. I'm a cryptozoology junkie, so this one was just way too exciting.

 

Imp: Spicy pine and cedar. Very woodsy, but dry, not muddy.

 

Wet: Christmas candle. Cheap Christmas candle, which is dissapointing. Too much cranberry.

 

Dry down: A little less cranberry, the pine comes back finally. It's more subtle, which is good.

 

Like everyone else has said, it'd be a lovely holiday scent, but I just don't think it works well with the

subject matter. I didn't expect a Jersey Devil scent to smell so warm and christmas-y. So nice scent, but I was a bit dissapointed. Will save for X-mas.

[musichappens]

When first applied, the sweetness from the cranberry practically smacks me in the face. Fortunately that doesn't last too long because the pine emerges to keep it in check. Once completely dry it became a beautiful mixture of pine and cranberry that reminded me a lot of the holiday season. I think I'm going to pick up a bottle and put it away for that time later this year.

[acbombshell]

Living a stone's throw from the Pine Barrens, I will say they smell nowhere near as pleasant.

 

At first, in the bottle and wet, all I get is tomato leaf, which isn't especially pleasant. I almost washed it off then and there, but after letting it dry for a while, the cranberry really comes out. It's a sweet cranberry, not too tart, and very pleasant. Definitely an autumn or winter kind of scent.

[lunchboxmonkey]

At first, I'm really getting the pine pitch and cranberry, with a herbally hint of tomato leaf in the background.

After a few minutes though... I'm not sure what happened, but this goes all sweet, waxy, christmas candle on me. Like a pine christmas candle. Much much sweeter than I was expecting, and I'm not sure where the waxiness is coming from. *sigh* Off to the swap box with this one then.

[hmelt004]

I always buy green scents because I like the idea of them, but they rarely work on me. This one, however, is a keeper, and I am considering getting a bottle. It starts out all pine pitch, very astringent and slightly worrying, but then it gets a bit sweeter and more mellow. The cedar makes it deep and rich but doesn't take over. A true and very wearable green scent.

[elinox]

First Sniff: Berries!

 

Wet: I’m getting a little bit of the cedar now and the berries have died off a little bit.

 

Dry: The berries have mellowed with the cedar, which became stronger on the dry down.

 

My Reaction: Unfortunately, I’m not getting any pine at all, just a hint of berry with some cedar to tame it. I’m not sure I liked that the cedar almost over powered the blackberry though. Overall, it reminds me of how Glasgow smells. It’s pleasant, but not as berry-centric as I had at first sniff hoped.

 

Rating 1-5: 2.5

 

[tailoredshirt]

In the bottle: Berries, definitely, but with some pine and forest.

 

Wet: Same, but I smell the tomato leaf now. Mmm, I love the smell of tomato leaf.

 

Dry: After a few minutes, I still smell the sweet berries. This feels a bit like a Christmas-themed air freshener, with the cranberry and pine scent. I like it, but I don't know if I love it as a perfume. Also, the berries smell a bit plasticky and not like actual fresh berries. A few minutes later, it's smelling kind of like a berry-flavored throat lozenge, with the pine (or something) acting a bit like menthol. It sounded like such an interesting combination, but I can already tell that this is not going to end well. :/ I think I'm going to go wash it off.

 

Overall: It starts off berry sweet, but then the berries turn plasticky. The pine/cranberry combination smelled simultaneously like a Christmas candle and a berry-scented throat lozenge. Not for me.

[voorishsign]

Now this is a scent I've been meaning to try almost as long as I've been into BPAL, and I have no idea why I only bought an imp now! I love pine, I love cedar and I lovelovelooooove the smell of tomato leaf. Will Jersey Devil deliver? We'll just have to see

 

In the imp - cedar and pine and lots of it!

 

On wet - omg this smells awesome. Mostly pine, mild cedar, with cranberry adding a fruity but still very bitter kick. Yes, please keep going!

 

Drydown - oh I love this so much. Woodsy and sweet and tasty and dry and gorgeous! Reminds me of Loup Garou, which I also like. This is a bottle. Oh man, is this ever a bottle. It's going on my next order!

[Vega]

In imp: Leafy, wetly green, slightly sweet. Is that a veggie smell I detect?

 

On skin: Light, moist, leafy green, with a light berry sweetness. There's also a hint of something "vegetable"-like, which must be the tomato leaf. A green scent that's more plant than pine; in fact the pitch pine and cedar are barely discernable. Over time it becomes warmer and softer, and what little pine there is fades away, leaving behind pleasant, fragrant berries and a touch of leaves. Nocnitsa and The Snow Storm are similar scents, albeit more piney.

Colour impression is leaf green.

 

Verdict: Odd, but pleasant. It's nice to find a green scent that's not merely pine. Not terribly interesting to me, but I'm glad I got to try it!

[Truelove]

At first I smelled a little bit of the pine, then just dried to clean scent. Dried down to nothing very quickly which was dissapointing because I wanted it to stick around.

[splendidissima]

I would never have picked this up based on the notes (pine? cedar? tomato leaf?) but I am so glad it turned up with my order.

 

The Jersey Devil must love berries, because that's the dominant note here: juicy, tart-sweet cranberries and blackberries, bursting all over the place. There's a dark green note in the back that is somehow also juicy--the tomato leaf? (I have no idea what tomato leaf smells like on its own, but if that's it, sign me up for a veggie garden.) The woods are very distant on me after dry-down, and much more pine than cedar--I can see the hint of Christmas-ness, but very faint. It's like the anticipation of the holidays, rather than the holidays themselves. But still mostly berries. (Color-wise: dark berry wine with dark green touches.)

 

Me: what do you think of this one?

Fiance: *sniff* pause *sniff* ...I don't know. I'm confused.

[Scentstudent]

I got this in an imp version and this is my first time trying to attempt to explain my feelings about a perfume which is incredibly out of character...but BPAL is for cool people.

 

when I put this on "wet" I engulfed in a tidal wave of sharp pine smell, I didn't think I liked it at first, after a while I think it "dry" started to smell more like incense, it reminded me of the smell of the green incense at kyomizu-dera in Japan... I like it but im worried people might think I smell like a car freshener or Japanese old person. but i like it and i guess that is what matters.

[milo]

I was so sure I reviewed this, but I guess not! On, very astringent pine, and dry very much the same. It reminds me of ponderosa pines, though I'm not getting so much wood here, more of the pitch that comes out, which I guess what's it's supposed to be anyways! Maybe a touch of berries, but I wouldn't have guessed they were there, but I peeked at the description. Quite evocative, but not something I'd wear as a perfume. Nice to try though!

[Gateau]

In the imp -- soft pine and dark berries

 

Wet -- gentle pine, mellow dark berries

 

Drydown -- soft pine and cedar, some cranberry sweetness. Not getting any leaf notes, either blackberry or tomato, and I was particularly interested in this for the tomato leaf, one of my favorite smells.

 

Dry -- It's mostly pine and cedar with notes of cranberry. The throw is fairly Christmas potpourri-like, but up close it's pleasantly piney. I think I amp the hell out of pine and cedar. Still missing the tomato leaf.

 

I like OK, but don't think it's all that wearable, verging on the potpourri side of the scale. If it had a touch of leather it would be great. Sad about the lack of tomato leaf.